Until My Dying Day
by Anath Tsurugi
Summary: After nearly twenty years, Thanos finally makes his move against Earth's Mightiest. For their own world, and for all worlds, the Avengers must make a stand...with the help of the next generation. Last in the Winter Soldier trilogy. (Team fic, Avengers family, main pairing Steve/Bucky)
1. My Name Is

(A/N) Well, dunno if anybody still remembers this little set of stories. I'd been trying to get this one going for a while now, but there were a few months in there where all I was capable of writing was hobbit fic. Eheh.

So, yeah, this story is the last of a trilogy and I wouldn't recommend starting with it, otherwise you're going to be painfully lost. But for those of you who still remember me, I hope you enjoy the story of the Avengers family.

**Until My Dying Day**

_Prologue: My Name Is…_

** Hel Lokidottir**, whether or not she was entirely aware of it, was the oldest of the pack. Born five minutes earlier, she never missed an opportunity to remind her twin brother that _she_ was the older one. It was also, however, a role she took seriously. Her father's chief command to her had always been, "Protect your brothers. We have no one but each other and it is up to you to keep them safe." Considering her own double form, it was a command she could take very much to heart. While they all had Jotunn forms and her brothers had animal forms, her own alternate form was something very different. If glanced sideways, out of the corner of the eye, she became like some creature of nightmare, something terrifying to behold…but then one would turn to actually look and she would be as she had always been. She was a creature of night, of darkness, and it suited her. The hand that dared to harm her brothers would never see her coming, fangs and claws prepared. Hel was devoted.

**Fenrir Lokison** played the role of a younger sibling well. He was very playful, as befitted his wolf form. He kept his older twin from getting too serious…or too murderous. Even though their father had trained all three of them as fighters, Fen was never one for battle. He was more like their father: a prankster. He was the ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and gloomy existence. He was the source of love Loki and his other children would die to protect. Fenrir was loving.

** Balder Thorson** was the best of both his parents. Thor had trained him in combat and he was just as smart as Jane. Even though he never talked about it with his parents, he preferred the things his mother taught him over what he learned from his father. At heart, he was a scholar, not a fighter, but he also understood that he'd been born to certain responsibilities, unlike the children of the other Avengers. He had a home in Midgard and a name among his mother's people, Benton Blaze Foster, but he never forgot that he would one day be king of Asgard. As far as the pack of Avenger children knew, Balder was the oldest; he acted like it and they treated him like it. They were all like his own little band and he protected them, as a prince and older brother should, regardless of what he might want for himself. Balder was self-sacrificing.

** Zasha Ruslana Romanova** witnessed her first explosion when she was four. She'd been playing hide and seek with the other children in Stark Tower and she ventured up to the R&D levels to hide. Okay, technically she wasn't allowed up there, but Balder was going to find her otherwise, and she just _couldn't_ lose her reputation as the greatest hider the tower had ever seen. As she'd wandered, a nearby door had suddenly blown clean off its hinges and Uncle Tony had come stumbling out a few seconds later, coughing, followed in short order by Uncle Bruce, who had Hulked out after whatever had happened in the lab. The giant green monster had gotten a slightly concerned look on his face when he'd spotted her, but Uncle Tony had just waved and said, "Hi, Russ." The little girl had been spellbound. From then on, she'd spent every waking moment trying to figure out how to "make stuff go BOOM!" Concerned, her parents had finally taken her to Tony and he'd sat her down and explained to her, "Now, Russ, if you want to blow things up, we need to do it in a safe environment with the right equipment." There had been no turning back after that. Russ was tenacious.

**Chase Han Lewis** had three mothers and one father. Two of his mothers, Darcy and Sinthea, were married on paper, and both were considered to be the women of Sif in Asgard. While his father wasn't part of the love fest, he was still his father, and all four of them loved him. While he also had an Asgardian name, Bjorn Fandralson, he was not quite as burdened by his heritage as Balder was. Chase mostly took after his biological mother. He went smiling through the day, always positive, saying that there was enough anger in the realms without him adding to it for no reason. He didn't even mind the Asgardian nickname he'd received from his two Asgardian parents, Nalle, which meant something like 'teddy bear' in their language. His Asgardian name meant 'bear', but anyone who knew him wouldn't typically consider him a bear. Oh, but hurt one of his friends/siblings and you'd better run for cover. Bjorn would emerge from Nalle in a heartbeat. This was only on rare occasions, though. Chase was normally a very gentle soul, and was only brought to anger by a threat to the people he cared about. Chase was kind.

** Phillip Steven Stark** was a boy after the Stark clan's heart. He was charismatic, reckless, smart, a bit of a bastard…he was a Stark and he knew it, for which Tony was grateful, as he'd complained loudly and bitterly over Pepper's wish to name their son after a certain agent when said agent was clearly not dead and therefore unavailable to serve as a namesake. Tony Stark didn't want a mini-Coulson running around the tower. He was instead blessed with his own mini-me. Phillip and Russ were often partners in mayhem. When something blew up, a floor was found covered in jello or grasshoppers, or everyone found their left shoe missing, Phillip and Russ could usually be found hidden in a supply closet, giggling with delight. The other Avengers would try to rein in the two unholy terrors, but the trouble was that Tony, and sometimes Thor and Clint, encouraged their behavior. Phillip was just as smart as Tony had been at his age and he always found new ways of getting around the restrictions his mother and the others tried to place on them. Phillip was clever.

**Noelle Elizabeth Ross** was the girliest girl to ever girl. She was the first to fit the mold of what the Avengers had expected for a baby girl. Russ wanted timers and dynamite for her birthday, but Noelle was happy with pink dresses, sparkly nail polish, and pretty crowns. Her room was decorated with Disney princess paraphernalia and she always liked to pretend that Stark Tower was _her_ tower and she was the princess. Whatever else she was, her father was just relieved that his daughter had dodged a bullet with his gamma tendencies. It was the reason it had taken Betty so long to convince him to try having kids. Thankfully, though, Noelle never exhibited any violent tendencies, or even a taste for violence, as several of the other children inevitably seemed to. In fact, as she got older, she developed a knack for performing. She loved singing, dancing, acting, music, all of it, anything she could set her heart to. She always said she loved to see people smile when they watched her perform. Noelle was giving.

**Jormungand Lokison** seemed to be fatherless. Unlike the twins, who received very clear pictures of who their fathers were, the youngest of Loki's brood was denied that knowledge. Even though he would often ask, all Loki would ever tell him was that he was happier not knowing. So he went on with his life, resigned to the fact that he'd probably never know the man. They often called him Jory, and even though he was the baby of the little family, he never acted like it. Sometimes, it seemed to Loki that his youngest son had been grown when he was born. He'd never cried as a baby, didn't laugh much, despite Fen's best efforts. Like his alternate form, a snake, he was quiet and watchful, and when not quiet, he was harsh and angry. Resigned or not, it didn't mean he was happy that half of his heritage was missing. If anyone was the baby of the family, it was Fenrir, and like Hel, Jory was protective of his older brother. Jory was hard.

**Howard James Stark** was a momma's boy. He was about as different from his brother as was humanly possible. The only thing the two Stark siblings had in common was that neither of them was anything like their namesake. If Steve, the only one of them who had really known Howard Stark Senior, hadn't been there when Howie was born and watched him grow up, he never would have believed they were related. Howie had Pepper's strawberry blonde hair and he was very shy and polite. Tony always said it was like having a mini-Steve Rogers in the tower. Howie looked up to Uncle Steve for more than just mannerisms and ideals, though. He came across Steve sketching one day, Steve put the paper and pencil in his hands and the rest was history. Everything Howie couldn't say with words came out on the paper. His wonder, curiosity, and wisdom burst forth in shades of black and white and splashes of color, and he'd shown them all things they'd never realized he'd seen. Howie was observant.

**Rosette Synthia Ross** was six the first time she Hulked out. Years later, no one could really remember what the trouble had been, but one minute, sweet little Rosie was standing there crying…and the next, a five foot tall Hulkling was standing where she'd been. Bruce was too shocked and horrified to stop the near rampage she'd gone on. It had taken her adoptive older sister, Shanta, along with Steve, Bucky, _and_ Balder to contain her. Although, if they were all honest, that first time was the only instance she ever had trouble controlling the beast in her DNA. The fact of the Hulk in her genes wasn't a burden to Rosette as it was to her father. It was just who she was…how she'd been born. She was very comfortable in the green skin her father had gifted her with. Rosette was playful.

**Marian Robin Coulson** wasn't supposed to be given that name. Maria and Phil argued for about nine months over what to name their daughter. Phil had argued for Stephanie, but Maria had fought just as hard against that, as she was well aware the only reason Phil wanted it was because it was as close to Steven as he could get, and she was absolutely not going to have _that_ be the reason for their child's name. Then, in a stroke of romantic brilliance, Phil had offered up Marian, which the hormonal mother-to-be had been able to accept. On the girlie spectrum, Marian was caught somewhere between Russ and Noelle. She had her own fairytale phase, but it was never just princesses she was interested in. She liked the heroes. What better environment for such a little girl? She learned how to handle modern weapons from her parents, and she learned about archery and sword-fighting from Clint, Sif, and Fandral. A fighter through and through…with a fashion sense taught to her by Pepper Stark and Noelle Ross. Marian was versatile.

**Fiona Eileen Foster** preferred her human name to her Asgardian one, Freya Thordottir. Like Chase, she was not so torn between their two worlds as her big brother was, though it was expected she would take her place as one of Asgard's sorcerers when she was old enough, as she possessed an ability that had not been seen among the Asgardians for a long time: she could heal with the power of her song. Odin's advisors were constantly on Jane to allow her daughter to live in Asgard in order to train further in magic, but Jane always insisted she was already losing one child to them. Why did she have to give up the other one? Besides, none of this meant much to Fiona at only ten. She preferred to get lost in her books, as she loved to read. It was just a nice bonus that she could heal all of her siblings' tiny scrapes and bumps whenever she sang. With her ability, she was beginning to develop a little of her brother's attitude…that the rest of the pack was somehow in her care. Fiona was caring.

**Lily Margaret Rogers** is only a name. Right now, all the Avengers family knows about this child is that she's a girl. After the joy of having Makoto and Eve in their lives, Steve and Bucky had decided they wanted to do it again. While Steve had suggested adoption, Bucky had done him one better…do what they knew Loki had done: use magic in order to create a child of theirs inside his body. The process hadn't been easy, but James Buchanan Rogers had never known from easy. Only the worst part is still to come. Lily is about to be born.

XxX


	2. Petals Unfurled

(A/N) Something I forgot to warn about in the prologue, this story will contain spoilers for Iron Man 3 if you haven't seen it. Thus far, this story is mostly rated for gore, which you'll be seeing right off the bat, though you never can tell with me. I will give you warnings as they are needed.

**Until My Dying Day**

_Chapter 1: Petals Unfurled_

As their numbers grew, it was progressively stranger and stranger to find the entire Avengers family all gathered in one room. Rarer still was the room that _could_ contain all of them. Thank God for Stark Tower.

Rather, though, it would be more accurate to say that they were all present in the one living room except for Steve and Bucky, who were back in their own room with Mimir, working through the final stages of Bucky's decidedly bizarre pregnancy. The core members of the super hero group were all anxious for some news of their friends, and the pack of Avenger offspring had all insisted on skipping whatever school or extracurricular activities they might have had in order to be here to welcome their newest member. Some of them were starting to a get a little impatient, though.

"God, how long can a magic labor take? It's not like he actually has to give birth or anything," Russ griped. The seventeen-year-old had her small body tucked into a ball as she rolled around on the floor. "Doesn't he just…I dunno…magic the kid out or something?"

"Labor isn't easy, Zash, no matter how you slice it," Natasha told her daughter, fixing her with a hard stare. Suitably chastised, Russ slumped out of her ball and sat still…as still as she could, anyway.

"Gotta stay positive, Russ," Phillip Stark reminded his partner in crime. "After all, we _are_ still gonna turn this kid into an unholy terror, just like we were," he finished, swooping in for a high-five.

"And still are," Noelle Ross said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, that plan is _never_ going to work."

"Oh? And why's that?" Russ asked, raising an eyebrow at the sixteen-year-old.

"This is Uncle Steve's daughter we're talking about here. Lily Rogers is going to be a lady."

"Well, that's no fun," her little sister, Rosie, grumbled.

"Says the girl who considers rolling around in the mud fun," Noelle jibed playfully.

The fourteen-year-old stuck her tongue out at her older sister. "You ought to try it sometime. After all, it's…very good for your skin," she said with a flourish, striking a catwalk pose and fluttering her eyelashes. Darcy started to clap as Rosie continued her little mock performance.

"Yeah! Work it, li'l Rose!"

Noelle gave a half-serious 'humph' at her sister's antics before turning her attention to Balder, who was playing a game of chess with Mako, a game neither of them was really paying attention to.

"What do _you_ think, Balder?"

"About what? Rosie's infant modeling career?" he asked, glancing at the younger girl and exchanging joking smiles with her. "No way that'll ever make number one."

"No, about Lily. What do you think Lily will be like?"

"I think she'll be how she'll be and we'll love her just the same, no matter what. A sister is a sister. Though, if you're basing your argument purely on the fact that she's Uncle Steve's daughter, you're forgetting who her other dad is. Lily's Uncle _Bucky's_ daughter, too."

Noelle stood with an odd look on her face for several minutes before giving a single nod and a shrug. "I stand corrected."

"She's going to be adorable, one way or the other," Chase said, a slightly dreamy expression on his face as he looked up from his homework.

"Leave it to the teddy bear to be cute and cuddly," Phillip said, snickering quietly.

"Phillip," Pepper threw her son a warning look before his teasing could escalate.

"It's okay, Aunt Pepper. I don't mind," Chase said, still smiling. "He's not trying to be mean."

"Well that's debatable," Russ said with a chuckle of her own, tucking herself back into a ball.

"He might not be, but _I_ certainly am," Clint said, swooping in to pick up his daughter, who was still light as a feather at seventeen, tiny and skinny as a rail. Russ near shrieked with laughter, somehow managing to stay tucked into a ball as she was lifted into her father's arms.

"Ooh, are we playing toss the Russ?" Mako asked, looking up from the chess game in interest.

Clint nodded. "Here, catch," he called out, actually throwing Russ the short distance to his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The thirty-one-year-old was up from the table faster than the eye could track, easily catching the redhead's balled up form in his arms.

"Who's next?" Mako called out. Balder also stood from the table and took several steps back, holding out his arms. Russ laughed as she went flying through the air again.

"Well, this is boring. What are the rest of us non-super soldier freaks supposed to do for fun?" Tony put in.

"You could always be the next ball," Clint suggested with a smirk and a shrug.

"Yeah, cuz that's exactly how I planned to spend my afternoon. Playing a ball for a couple of guys to handle."

"Let us not make fun. Handling balls is a most enjoyable experience," Fandral said with a smirk.

"_Definitely_ not having that conversation with _you_, Tinkerbell," the billionaire said without even missing a beat.

Eve glanced up from helping Marian with her math homework, sighing as she watched her two uncles banter. Then she looked over to where Howie was supposed to be working on his chemistry homework. Unfortunately, but not entirely unexpected, the youngest Stark had abandoned his schoolwork in favor of his sketchbook. Eve caught a brief glimpse of a sketch of Russ, laughing as she flew through the air.

"You sure your dad doesn't get somebody to write his material for him?" the twenty-two-year-old asked her surrogate little brother.

"Nope," Howie said without looking up from his work. "That's just the Starks through and through. Your dad says Grandpa Howard was like that, too."

"Not you, though."

"Pretty much," Howie said, still not looking up.

Sometimes Eve wondered where Howie would end up, being an artist in a family of mechanical wizards. It was a little like her own situation. All of her "siblings," the generation of initiates S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers had rescued from the Red Room, had become S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, after a fashion. Belle was an intelligence agent with the codename Liberty Belle. After all, who better to gather secrets than a psychic? Mako was a field agent with the codename Tsurugi. Aiden wasn't a field agent, so he had no codename, but he was well qualified to take over for his mother as the head of biotech research. Shanta was the most recent of their number to become a field agent. She'd taken her codename from Uncle Bruce's childhood nickname for her…his little tiger. So Shanta became the White Tiger. Jarah was also not a field agent, though he certainly had the training to be one. Jarah was following his father's footsteps into upper management. He was actually Belle, Mako, and Shanta's handler. Eve's problem wasn't that she _didn't_ belong; it was that she _wanted_ to. She wanted to be able to join her siblings in the field when she was fully qualified, but Mako and their two fathers had been trying to dissuade from joining up. She had long been the de facto babysitter of the pack of Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D. offspring and her family had been encouraging her to go into childcare, but anything less than S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't feel like she was fulfilling her true potential. Though, with a new sibling arriving, perhaps there wouldn't be as much nagging as there had been in recent weeks. All of the worry their family had to spare was for little Lily.

Just then, Mimir emerged from the hallway that led to the living quarters of the tower. All activity ceased as the extensive family waited for the sorcerer to speak.

"Lily Stevendottir has been born. Both she and James are doing well. Eve? Makoto? You may go back and see them if you wish."

Eve and Mako looked at each other, both wearing excited smiles on their faces. As they stood, Fiona jumped up from her English homework and cheered.

"Yay! I'm not the baby anymore!"

"Oh, we'll see about that, little worm," Phillip teased her. The two adopted Rogers children didn't hear what followed that, though, as they were already moving past Mimir and down the hallway toward their parents' room.

The first thing they heard was the sound of their new baby sister burbling sweetly. Then they were actually standing in the doorway.

It was almost strange…to see their big, strong father holding a tiny baby, but the oddness of the scene was negated by the smile on his face. Steve Rogers sat beside his husband on their bed and they were both focused intently on the little girl as Bucky fed her formula from a bottle.

"Guess it's time for another tattoo, huh?" Mako interrupted quietly, smiling when both their parents looked up at them with joy in their eyes.

"Guess so. What's it's going to be this time?" Steve asked as their two children approached the bed.

"That's easy. A lily."

Mako had two tattoos on his back, one at each shoulder for each sister. Yuki, his biological sister, who had been murdered by 2R a long time ago, had a cherry blossom on his left shoulder, and Eve had a rose on his right shoulder. Lily would have her namesake directly between the two. As Mako had been enhanced by the super soldier serum, normal tattooing wouldn't take to his skin, so Dr. Sinthea Lewis had developed a cell-dying process that would allow this one with to be granted.

"I don't think she'll be awake much longer. She's goin' fast. You'd better come meet her while you can," Bucky said, setting the nearly empty bottle aside after Lily let it slip from her mouth. He replaced the bottle with a burp cloth, laying it over his shoulder. Lily yawned as he brought her head up to rest against the cloth, starting to burp her.

"Hello," Eve cooed to the baby, reaching forward to stroke the peach fuzz on top of her head. "Hello, Lily. You are the most beautiful baby sister. You have no idea how exciting it is to finally have some estrogen in this family."

All three men had a good chuckle at this before Mako moved in beside Eve to pat Lily's chubby cheek.

"Hey, there, Lil. Good to see you. The others are all really excited to meet you, so don't nap too long, yeah?"

Just then, Lily's little face scrunched up in discomfort and she burped, spitting up onto the cloth. Mako chuckled in a pained sort of way as he wiped a small drop of spit up from his face.

"Got some range on that one. Definitely a baby sister."

The four of them all had a good laugh at that and even so, Lily managed to fall asleep almost instantly, exhausted from the whole trying process of being born.

XxX

_One month later and worlds away…_

A line of guards stood along the entrance to the stone fortress, blocking all access. From a distance, three cloaked figures surveyed the layout, plotting the move they were about to make.

"So what do you think, Sis?" the second figure asked the first, who crouched at the head of the group.

"I think it's all for show. No one's tried to break in here for centuries," a cold feminine voice answered.

"No one's foolish enough," the third figure said, his serious tone still a little boyish, clearly younger than the first two.

"No one but us," the second figure pointed out. He was obviously enjoying the situation.

"Granted. This is certainly the hardest challenge we've ever faced. Father won't be pleased if we fail," the first said.

"Hel, if we fail, there won't be anyone _left_ to be displeased…not even Father," the second said, his light, joking manner slipping into something more sober at the mention of their father.

"True, so we had better not make a mess of this," the first figure said, drawing the twin swords strapped to her back. Even as she drew, the other two were shifting form, becoming a large wolf and snake respectively. Once the change was complete, the first of them, clearly their leader, leapt onto the wolf's back and the snake slither up, coiling its body around her shoulders. Then she raised her weapons and the wolf leapt high into the air. He could cover the distance to the gate in a few easy bounds.

As the three figures descended upon their opponents, the first threw her head back, an unearthly battle shriek issuing forth from the confines of her hood, electrifying the night air with terror. The wolf joined her bloodlust call with a joyful howl.

The enemies of Loki's children would know fear this night.

The line of guards let loose a volley of fire from their beam weapons, but the wolf was too quick for them, carrying the other two through the line of fire. Once clear, Hel Lokidottir leapt free of her brother's back, using her momentum to fling her youngest brother free in the same movement. Jormungand Lokison slid down the flat of his sister's blade, briefly hurtling through the air before wrapping his sinuous snake body around the neck of one of the guards, squeezing hard enough to snap his spine.

In the same moment, Hel buried her swords into two beating hearts while her twin snapped his powerful jaws around the neck of a fourth guard. Fenrir Lokison then used his dead weight to take down two more, leaping upon their pinned bodies and ripping their throats out.

While Hel beheaded a seventh, an eighth grabbed a hold of Jory, who whipped his head through the air and clamped his fangs down on his jugular vein, pumping deadly venom into his system. Instantly, the guard dropped to his knees, screaming in agony. He was dead in moments. Slithering free of the corpse, Jory quickly shifted back to human form, just in time to fling two throwing knives into the eyes of the ninth, leaving him crippled enough for Hel to easily stab through the heart. She didn't see the tenth come upon her, but Fenrir had her back, pouncing the guard and ripping his heart out.

The rest tried to flee, but the three siblings were already upon them. The slaughter was over in moments; Loki's children were left standing in a see of carnage. Fenrir gave one long howl of victory as they entered the fortress.

XxX

Loki Laufeyson had thought he had known pain. He had been cast into the abyss…used and betrayed by the people he loved…lied to all his life…tortured by new masters to make him into a stronger warrior…he had borne three children. He had known screaming agony in every fiber of his being. He _thought_ he had suffered so much.

He had thought wrong.

"Tell me, Asgardian…was I right? Was that pain sweet?" the cold voice of the Other hissed in his ear. Slowly, Loki nodded.

"I told you you couldn't escape. I _told_ you you couldn't hide. We did find you in the end…and I would say you have been suitably punished for the loss of the Tesseract…but that is not why you are here."

Barely managing to raise his head from the slab he was chained to, Loki looked to his tormentor as he circled the torture chamber. "What…what are…you _talking_ about?" he asked, his voice breaking on cracked lips.

"Your _children_, Laufeyson, the Fated Ones…the children of Ragnarok. Where are they? Where are you hiding them?"

The pain that consumed the former prince's body was instantly replaced by shock and horror. It wasn't often that the liesmith would confess to being afraid. He was afraid now. Thanos wanted his children? Why? Would he use them to shape his own end to the cosmos?

Rather than let his fear show, though, Loki glared at the Other, fighting through the pain of his wounds. "You'll never find them. You will not _touch_ them!" he spat at him before clamping his mouth shut.

Sneering, the Other moved toward him, laying a hand against his face. "We found _you_…didn't we?"

Then, before he could force another psychic attack on Loki's defenseless mind, a lone howl sounded through the dank air.

_Fen!_

A look of pleasure crossed the Other's face at the sound. "Ah. It seems we will not have to look for them after all. They have come to us…just as we'd hoped."

Loki's horror only grew worse as the realization swept over him. He had accomplished nothing by giving himself up to Thanos' forces. He'd thought he was allowing Hel, Fen, and Jory to escape this fate…but all he'd really done was allow himself to be used as the bait to trap them.

_What have I done?_

XxX

The rest of the fortress was about as challenging as the first line of guards…which should have been Hel's first clue something was amiss, given Thanos' reputation as a warlord, but the young woman was just that hung up on rescuing her father. She hadn't slept a night since he'd been captured, unable to free herself of the sight of him impaled on an electro-spear. Once the three siblings had fought their way through to the torture chambers, however, the sight they beheld was much worse.

Loki, their father, was in ruins. His hair and clothes were matted with blood and his skin was ravaged all over with injuries, from light scrapes all the way to deep gashes. Worst of all, though, was the look of helpless anger on his face.

"Run," he called weakly to them as they rushed forward to help him. "Just run…escape…before he comes back. Leave me."

"Never," Hel snarled, raising her blades and using them to break the chains that bound him. "Never would we leave you to die."

Loki was unable to stand on his own, so Fenrir and Jory quickly moved in to support him. All the while, the trickster glared at his daughter.

"Why did you come here?"

"We _had_ to."

"I warned you not to _come here!_ It wasn't about me. He was setting a trap for _you_. You've led your brothers into danger."

"More than you could ever realize, little ones," a new voice entered the chamber. Hel turned, whipping out her swords and keeping herself solidly positioned between her father, brothers, and the new threat.

She had seen images of Thanos before and he was about what she'd expected…an imposing alien figure dressed in grand robes and possessed of a near striking self-assuredness. He strode into the room with the Other at his side, leering at her all the while.

"What do you think of my little stronghold, Frostling?"

"It's smaller than I expected…given its reputation," the seventeen-year-old said, keeping a wary eye on her enemy.

"Mm, yes. Some of my greatest work has taken place here. In fact, I believe both of your fathers were shaped in this very chamber. The Frostling…and the Winter Soldier."

"Don't think you can get under my skin with that. James Barnes is nothing to me."

"No, no, no, of _course_ not. Nothing gets to Hel the ice queen. Although…your other father may be more to you than you realize."

"I seriously doubt it."

"We will see. In fact, we will see right now. Wolf boy…step away from your father."

"Fen, don't do it," Loki hissed, never taking his eyes off of Thanos.

"Do it…or I will kill your sister."

"Don't listen to him," Hel ordered. She didn't have to look back to be able to see the stricken look on her twin's face.

"Hel-"

"You won't be harmed; I promise you…but I make no guarantees on your sister if you don't do as I command."

"It is foolish…to throw yourself on a promise from Thanos," Loki warned his son…but he knew him too well to think he would do anything other than offer himself up in place of his sister.

Fenrir, for his part, said nothing, his decision already made, despite the protests from the others. In many ways, he was like the father he had never known. Keeping calm, he stepped away from Loki.

"Fen, no!" he cried out. He tried to hold onto his son, but he didn't have the strength. Jory had to hold him up as Fenrir moved cleared.

"_Fen!_" Hel shouted as she turned. Just as her eyes fell on him, her twin was surrounded by a swirl of blue energy. In only a flash, her brother was gone.

"_Where is he?!_" she screamed as she whirled to face Thanos once again.

"What did you do to my son?" Loki demanded, though the threat in his voice was somewhat less threatening in his weakened state.

"Your son…has gone back to the place where he began."

XxX

Fenrir's first instinct after being warped through space was to go wolf. As he had no idea where he would end up, it was best to come out guns blazing. Unfortunately, the boy just couldn't get his energies going properly when he rematerialized. Instead, he collapsed to his knees, battling fruitlessly against his spinning head.

"Whoa!"

"What the Hell?"

"Bucky, get the kids clear!"

"Hold on!"

"It's a kid! It's a kid! It's just a kid!"

The voices came from everywhere, all around him; he couldn't clear his vision enough to see anything.

"Tony, put your arm away! Don't shoot! It's a _kid!_"

Slowly, a figure began to materialize from the chaos before his eyes…a tall figure with blue eyes and…was that blond or brown hair?

"Are you all right?"

"I…I am…my name…I'm…my name is…Fenrir Lokison," he finally managed to get the words out. "I…my family…where…am I?" was all Fen could manage before passing out cold.

No one was more shocked than Steve Rogers when his long lost son collapsed into his arms.

XxX


End file.
